Conversion optimization with Optimizely, impact on SEO
-
I am looking into signing up with www.optimizely.com for conversion testing. They put scripting on my site which will then redirect half of my site visitors to an alternate home page. The site I want to test on is ranking quite well with Google and I do not want to hurt my rankings.
And with this set up,what Google will think is my home page is not and so I am essentially sending visitors to a different page than Google reads as my home page in source code.
So, my concern is whether this will have a negative impact on my SEO rankings to redirect 50% of site visitors to a different page using this testing tool?
I would use Google Web Site Optimizer, but many of my sites are in Wordpress and it seems that Wordpress and web site optimizer are not so compatible.
Advice would be appreciated.
Thank you,
Robert
-
I realise this response is almost a year old, but I've only just found it. I am about to start using Optimizely, but am concerned about affecting my ranking especially now that we have a new Penguin update due any time now.
The nice guy at Optimizely told me today (during the webinar for newbies) that you could use Optimizely to permanently direct different sorts of visitors to different content. For example, he pointed out that people who today run IE 6 are very different from people who run IE 9. And depending on your market it might make sense to give those two groups different messaging. But Google specifically say don't deliver different content based on user-agent.
http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/website-testing-google-search.html And on the last point in that article, how long is too long?
-
Thank you for all of your responses. Dan Siroker, nice to see you responding- too thank you. I suppose I am left with that if I do use/need the function in Optimizely where I need to re-route to new url is to potentially use rel-canonical and block the second page in robot.txt. I feel that for basic landing page testing, I would not re-route and Optimizely seems like a great and easy solution and I will use it. For tests which would require re-routing, I am thinking perhaps Google optimizer is better because I am confident they will not penalize for re-route when they are the ones doing it. Dan, if you feel different, I'd be happy to get on phone to chat. Thank you all. Best, Robert
-
Yes, I've used Optimizely, and Ryan is completely correct in that you only create one page, just add javascript to make it different views for different visitors.
-
Hi Robert,
This is a great question. You are right that there are a few ways to run an experiment with Optimizely. The default and easiest way to get up and running is to run an experiment on the same URL without redirecting to another page. Alternatively you can redirect to another URL. Customers commonly use both techniques and neither will negatively impact SEO.
Here is a more detailed explanation of how Optimizely affects SEO: http://support.optimizely.com/kb/advanced/does-optimizely-affect-my-search-ranking-or-seo
Here is Google's stance on this: http://www.google.com/support/websiteoptimizer/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=63382
Hope that helps answer your question!
Thanks,
Dan Siroker
Co-Founder & CEO, Optimizely
-
Then you'll want to ask him if that necessitates a separate URL. If it does, you should rel=canonical the test page to point at the original home page, and noindex the test page to avoid any duplicate content situations.
You may also want to run this by the optimizely guys to see what their thoughts are, since they'll know exactly how their technology is altering your site.
-
Hi Ryan, thank you for response. There are two ways to test with them. The type of testing I would want to do would apparently (according to sales guy) require an alternative landing/home page.
-
My understanding is that the same URL is used for both test and control versions of your home page, meaning its not actually redirecting. Instead the changes are inserted using the javascript code dynamically. I'm not sure whether Google ignores the javascript change or incorporates it. Either way your test changes should be done with both SEO and user experience in mind, so don't run tests that would hurt your SEO and you'll be golden.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Shopify websites. I've been asked to do some SEO work for a client.
They have a Shopify site. It's been running a year without getting really any listings. Anyone else had this problem? Should we just build them a new website? Or do shopify site have a poor record of listing highly.Thanks
Conversion Rate Optimization | | BraveThinking0 -
Facebook Connect login preventing traffic source conversion data. Any solutions?
We're buying traffic to the website via Adwords, and when they hit the website and go to sign up for an application (enter into our conversion funnel), the session concludes as a bounced session, a new session starts and that session now has a referral from Facebook rather than the original referring source. This means we can't monitor adwords conversions properly (or any other traffic source conversions) this seems to be quite a common problem with Facebook/Google account logins, in the case of Google, people block account.google.com but we can't afford to block Facebook outright as we're wanting to see other Facebook referrals. Has anyone come across this problem? Any suggestions of how to fix this?
Conversion Rate Optimization | | Startupfactory0 -
Suggestions for Conversion Rate Optimization low cost companies?
Does anyone have a list of suggestions for lower cost companies to do conversions. I am a new business and just wanted my "Cart" check out with maybe some suggestions for improvement and a little testing to see if it is done correctly. Thank you, Boo
Conversion Rate Optimization | | Boodreaux0 -
Responsive SEO - Redesign
My team is in the process of redesigning our main website. In order to balance Conversion Rate Optimization and SEO we are considering adding some features to the new site – HOWEVER we are wondering whether or not this will make any significant to our SERP’s. All together I am looking for your opinion – on two distinct areas. NOTE: Our site is built in plain HTML- No CMS. First (HOME PAGE) Content Slider above the fold. Our current site does a good job of utilizing this prime space with a balanced use of H1 and Text. However – it is not optimized for conversions. We feel a slider will kill both birds with one stone. Have you have any experience with this? What are your thoughts? Do SE’s like this? SECOND (NAVIGATION) We are adding a submenu to the site. Besides our Horizontal top menu and additional menu in a Column format is being discussed. We are thinking that the left placement will work better with conversions – however what do search engines like most – left or right navigations? Your input is greatly appreciated. Thanks, Daniel
Conversion Rate Optimization | | dhidalgo10 -
Query: Analytics Goal Conversion
Please see the attached image. Can anyone please explain the attached image. Goal Overview tab says 8 Goals. but in the attached image says, 3 visitors finished, I've even set the required step as well, so it is also not possible to goal might have completed from any other page. Thanks llSj0
Conversion Rate Optimization | | Visiblics0 -
Advice on SEO for Chinese Website in China
Hey folks, I am a little out of my depth here because I have never SEO'd a website that is not in English - and especially in China. I have a few questions that I hope someone can help with? What are the primary SE's in China Are there any specifics with regards Keyword Research Are there any specifics around SEO techniques and climbing up the SERPs? I know I don't speak Chinese but I will need to be advising. Thanks, Andy
Conversion Rate Optimization | | Andy.Drinkwater0 -
How important to conversions is proper English on a website?
Many websites - especially those done in foreign countries by non-native English speakers - have many grammatical and idiomatic errors in the English copy. How important is that to conversions (actually convincing the customer to buy, etc.) Is the poor English a turn-off, a cause for distrust or discomfort - or do people not care? I'd be interested to hear people's personal opinions (the more the merrier) and if anyone has a more global perspective backed by research, testing, etc - that would be great, Thanks in advance!
Conversion Rate Optimization | | debi_zyx0